IoT devices, such as sensors, often operate on battery power in a sleep mode until triggered by an external signal to provide measurement or other data. One type of signal used to trigger IoT devices is an SMS message. In one implementation, a machine type communications interworking function (MTC-IWF) contacts a short message service center (SMSC), which sends an SMS message to the IoT device to trigger the device to perform an application-specific function, such as waking up.
One problem with the above-described IoT device triggering method is that the SMSC is an expensive piece of network equipment. Requiring an SMSC to perform IoT device triggering may be cost prohibitive, especially as the number of IoT devices increases. Another problem with using an SMSC for IoT device triggering is that extra messaging between the MTC-IWF and the SMSC is required for SMS message delivery and delivery confirmation. This messaging increases with the number of IoT devices and thus can consume a significant amount of bandwidth in a network operator's network where SMS message traffic is carried. The use of an SMSC for IoT device triggering also introduces latency in IoT device triggering transactions.
Yet another problem with using an SMSC for IoT device triggering is that the SMSC is vulnerable to security attacks. For example, an SMSC performs SMS forwarding transactions for IoT device transactions and non-IoT device transactions. If an attacker inserts attack code in an SMS message, the SMSC may inadvertently receive and store the message, execute the attack code, and perform a malicious operation specified by the attack code. Such an attack could prevent triggering of IoT devices or allow unauthorized access to IoT devices.
Accordingly, in light of these and other difficulties, there exists a need for methods, systems and computer readable media for optimized IoT device triggering.